Saturday, January 30, 2010

A Church's Parting Thought "Judas Left Early Too."

Parting thought--or parting shot?

A church's parting thought:
Pastor's sign is for those who leave Mass early

MOUNT CLEMENS [MI] – Some people still take off right after Communion at St. Peter Church, but not as many now that they have to walk under signs that read "Judas left early too."
Fr. Cooney says putting the signs up at each of the three exits was "a bit of Irish diplomacy" aimed at addressing a long-standing source of frustration for many Catholic priests: people who leave Mass early, rather than staying for the dismissal.

(Read entire story here.)

Monday, January 18, 2010

Dr. M.L. King’s neice: “The Dream Includes Us All, Born and Unborn”

The AmericanPapist notes:

Despite the attempts of abortion advocates like Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards to claim that Dr. King was an abortion activist, those who bear his name and continue his cause have something very different to say:

Dr. Alveda King, Pastoral Associate of Priests for Life and niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., released the following comments today on the celebration of her Uncle’s life.

“Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke of a Beloved Community where all are treated with respect and dignity,” said Dr. King. ”He fought against society’s exclusion of people who were treated as less than human because of their appearance. Today, we are compelled to continue Uncle Martin’s fight by standing up for those who are treated as less than human because of their helplessness and inconvenience.

“The unborn are as much a part of the Beloved Community as are newborns, infants, teenagers, adults, and the elderly. Too many of us speak of tolerance and inclusion, yet refuse to tolerate or include the weakest and most innocent among us in the human family. As we celebrate the life of Uncle Martin, let us renew our hearts and commit our lives to treating each other, whatever our race, status, or stage of life, as we would want to be treated. Let us let each other live.”

Abortion remains a scourge of African Americans, who suffer a far-higher abortion rate. Planned Parenthood should strive to promote a culture where all human beings have an equal chance to live. That’s my dream, and Dr. King’s.

I wrote previously about this last point in my blog here. To me, it is THE Great Civil Rights Issue of our time, comparable to the abolition of slavery about 150 years ago. Arizona Congressman Trent Franks also has something to say about this, as well as some proposed legislation. See the story here.

I like to remind people that it was one of my heroes, President Ronald Reagan, who signed into law the holiday honoring Dr. King. Here are his concluding words on that day:

Now our nation has decided to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by setting aside a day each year to remember him and the just cause he stood for. We've made historic strides since Rosa Parks refused to go to the back of the bus. As a democratic people, we can take pride in the knowledge that we Americans recognized a grave injustice and took action to correct it. And we should remember that in far too many countries, people like Dr. King never have the opportunity to speak out at all.

But traces of bigotry still mar America. So, each year on Martin Luther King Day, let us not only recall Dr. King, but rededicate ourselves to the Commandments he believed in and sought to live every day: Thou shall love thy God with all thy heart, and thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself. And I just have to believe that all of us—if all of us, young and old, Republicans and Democrats, do all we can to live up to those Commandments, then we will see the day when Dr. King's dream comes true, and in his words, “All of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning, ‘... land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.’”

Thank you, God bless you, and I will sign it.